When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come. And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilightThis phrase refers to the specific time of day when Aaron, the high priest, is instructed to tend to the lamps of the golden lampstand in the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for "twilight" is "בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם" (bein ha'arbayim), which literally means "between the evenings." This time is significant in Jewish tradition as it marks the transition from day to night, symbolizing a time of reflection and preparation. The lighting of the lamps at this time signifies the perpetual presence of God’s light amidst the encroaching darkness, a powerful reminder of His guidance and protection. he must burn the incense
The burning of incense is a sacred act, symbolizing the prayers of the people ascending to God. The Hebrew word for "incense" is "קְטֹרֶת" (qetoret), which is derived from a root meaning "to smoke" or "to burn." Incense in the Tabernacle was a special blend, as described earlier in Exodus, and was considered holy. The act of burning incense at twilight, alongside the lighting of the lamps, creates a dual imagery of light and fragrance, representing the illumination and sweet aroma of a life dedicated to God. There is to be incense burned perpetually before the LORD
The word "perpetually" emphasizes the continuous nature of this ritual. The Hebrew term "תָּמִיד" (tamid) means "continually" or "regularly," indicating that this is not a one-time event but an ongoing practice. This perpetual burning of incense before the LORD signifies the constant need for prayer and intercession. It serves as a reminder of the eternal nature of God and His unending relationship with His people. The incense, rising continually, symbolizes the unceasing worship and devotion that believers are called to offer to God. for the generations to come
This phrase underscores the timelessness of the command. The Hebrew "לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם" (ledoroteichem) means "for your generations," indicating that this practice is not just for the present but is intended to be observed by future generations. It highlights the importance of tradition and the passing down of faith practices from one generation to the next. This continuity ensures that the knowledge and reverence of God remain alive and active within the community, fostering a legacy of faithfulness and obedience to God's commands. Persons / Places / Events 1. AaronThe brother of Moses and the first high priest of Israel. He is responsible for performing the priestly duties, including burning incense. 2. The TabernacleThe portable dwelling place for the divine presence of God among the Israelites. It is where the incense altar is located. 3. The Incense AltarA sacred place within the Tabernacle where incense is burned as a symbol of prayer and worship ascending to God. 4. TwilightThe time of day when Aaron is instructed to set up the lamps and burn incense, symbolizing the transition from day to night and the continual presence of God. 5. The LORDThe covenant name of God, Yahweh, who commands the perpetual burning of incense as a sign of His eternal presence and the ongoing prayers of His people. Teaching Points The Importance of Continual WorshipJust as Aaron was to burn incense perpetually, our worship and prayer should be continual, reflecting a life dedicated to God. Symbolism of Incense as PrayerIncense represents the prayers of the faithful rising to God. Our prayers should be sincere and constant, like the incense that burns without ceasing. Role of the PriesthoodAaron's role as a priest highlights the importance of intercession. As believers, we are called to be a royal priesthood, interceding for others. God's Presence in Daily LifeThe burning of incense at twilight signifies God's presence throughout all times of the day. We should seek to recognize and honor God's presence in every aspect of our lives. Generational FaithfulnessThe command for perpetual incense burning "throughout your generations" emphasizes the importance of passing down faith and worship practices to future generations. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the role of Aaron as a high priest relate to the role of Jesus as our High Priest in the New Testament? 2. In what ways can we incorporate the principle of "perpetual incense" into our daily prayer life? 3. How does the symbolism of incense as prayer challenge or encourage you in your personal prayer habits? 4. What are some practical ways we can ensure that our faith and worship practices are passed down to future generations? 5. How can recognizing God's presence at all times, like the burning of incense at twilight, impact our daily decisions and interactions? Connections to Other Scriptures Leviticus 16:12-13This passage describes the Day of Atonement, where incense is used to cover the mercy seat, symbolizing the prayers of the people and the presence of God. Revelation 8:3-4In the New Testament, incense is associated with the prayers of the saints, showing continuity in the symbolism of incense as prayer. Psalm 141:2The psalmist likens his prayer to incense, reinforcing the idea of prayer as a fragrant offering to God. People Aaron, Israelites, MosesPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Aaron, Aaron's, Burn, Burned, Causing, Continual, Dusk, Evening, Evenings, Generation, Generations, Incense, Lamps, Lighteth, Lights, Perfume, Perpetual, Places, Puts, Regularly, Sets, Smoke, Spices, Sweet-smelling, Throughout, Trims, TwilightDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 30:8 4933 evening
5445 potters and pottery Exodus 30:1-10 7302 altar Exodus 30:7-8 5073 Aaron, priest
7770 priests, NT tasks Exodus 30:7-9 7386 incense Exodus 30:7-10 7438 sanctuary Library The Altar of Incense
'Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon.' --EXODUS xxx. 1. Ceremonies are embodied thoughts. Religious ceremonies are moulded by, and seek to express, the worshipper's conception of his God, and his own relation to Him; his aspirations and his need. Of late years scholars have been busy studying the religions of the more backward races, and explaining rude and repulsive rites by pointing to the often profound and sometimes beautiful ideas underlying them. When that process is applied to Australian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureRansom for Souls --I.
Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul.' --EXODUS xxx. 12. This remarkable provision had a religious intention. Connect it with the tax-money which Peter found in the fish's mouth. I. Its meaning. Try to realise an Israelite's thoughts at the census. 'I am enrolled among the people and army of God: am I worthy? What am I, to serve so holy a God?' The payment was meant-- (a) To excite the sense of sin. This should be present in all approach to God, in all service; accompanying the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ransom for Souls --ii.
'The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel....'--EXODUS xxx. 15. This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very small amount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in its significance. Notice-- I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God. Contrast the reign of caste and class in heathendom with the democracy of Judaism and of Christianity. II. The universal sinfulness. Payment of the tax was a confession that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture "Whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. "
Rom. viii. 15.--"Whereby we cry, Abba, Father." As there is a light of grace in bestowing such incomparably high dignities and excellent gifts on poor sinners, such as, to make them the sons of God who were the children of the devil, and heirs of a kingdom who were heirs of wrath; so there is a depth of wisdom in the Lord's allowance and manner of dispensing his love and grace in this life. For though the love be wonderful, that we should be called the sons of God; yet, as that apostle speaks, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Jesus Pays the Tribute Money.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29) ^A Matt. XVII. 24-27. ^a 24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel? [The law of Moses required from every male of twenty years and upward the payment of a tax of half a shekel for the support of the temple (Ex. xxx. 12-16; II. Chron. xxiv. 5, 6). This tax was collected annually. We are told that a dispute existed between the Pharisees and Sadducees as to whether the payment …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel How a Private Man must Begin the Morning with Piety.
As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning, keep the door of thy heart fast shut, that no earthly thought may enter, before that God come in first; and let him, before all others, have the first place there. So all evil thoughts either will not dare to come in, or shall the easier be kept out; and the heart will more savour of piety and godliness all the day after; but if thy heart be not, at thy first waking, filled with some meditations of God and his word, and dressed, like the lamp in the tabernacle …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Copies of Things in the Heavens
'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Last Events in Galilee - the Tribute-Money, the Dispute by the Way, the Forbidding of Him who could not Follow with the Disciples, and The
Now that the Lord's retreat in the utmost borders of the land, at Cæsarea Philippi, was known to the Scribes, and that He was again surrounded and followed by the multitude, there could be no further object in His retirement. Indeed, the time was coming that He should meet that for which He had been, and was still, preparing the minds of His disciples - His Decease at Jerusalem. Accordingly, we find Him once more with His disciples in Galilee - not to abide there, [3743] nor to traverse it …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 30:8 NIVExodus 30:8 NLTExodus 30:8 ESVExodus 30:8 NASBExodus 30:8 KJV
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